Don't Provoke Her! The Hidden Boss Strikes Back

Deep in the desolate land of the Mississippi forest, poisonous insects, snakes, and ants crawled all over a cave. At the end of the cave was hidden a massive underground prison, heavily guarded outside—not even a fly could get in.

Layer upon layer of iron doors radiated an icy atmosphere. Behind the doors was a cell with damp walls fitted with hundreds of surveillance cameras. All of them were monitoring one target—a young girl.

In the control center, a top-tier mercenary stared at the large screen and excitedly spoke through the intercom. "Boss, the new poison DK33 is working! Blood Dove on the monitor is starting to lose consciousness. This is our best chance!"

On the other end of the phone, the man walked through the cold corridor, a sinister smirk on his lips. "Double dose of DK33 —let's see how she escapes from my grasp today!"

Hearing the noise, the girl slowly lifted her head. Her jet-black hair was covered in terrifying bloodstains. Her entire body was pierced with bone nails, her tendons severed, and the DK33 poison was taking effect. Even so, she remained silent, coldly raising her head to look at the familiar visitor.

"So, It's you..." A moment of silence heightened the tension. "You betrayed the organization and tricked me with fake intel?!"

"So what if I did? The Syndicate is a hellhole—no place for humans. I don't want to spend my whole life under your thumb!"

The syndicate operated as a high-level global spy network. The girl before him ranked among its most feared S-class operatives spy with codename: 'BLOOD DOVE'

And now, she had been captured alive.

"Cut the crap," Kira said, having timed the poison's effects perfectly. He sneered and grabbed Blood Dove by the throat. "You're in agony right now, aren't you? You want the antidote, right?"

His voice carried a hint of temptation. "Just tell me Anso's password data, and I'll give you the antidote right away," he added.

Anso was where the world's largest pirate group hid their treasure. The password to enter was a string of data—extremely complex and difficult to understand, requiring superior calculation abilities and exceptional memory to decode.

Blood Dove was the only person in the world who knew Anso's password data, and Kira had to get it to complete his mission.

Blood Dove mocked him. "You?"

"A lowly B-rank spy thinks he can get the password from me?"

"Dream on."

As her words fell, her thumb pressed something hidden in her sleeve. A micro-device lit up red, followed by a massive explosion. The ground began to shake.

Kira stumbled back in panic. "What's happening?"

A loud bang echoed as the cell door was blown open by a huge impact. A mercenary engulfed in flames rushed in. "Boss, this is bad! The prison's defense system exploded!"

"What!?"

"The cave is collapsing! Ah!"

Before he could finish, the fierce flames devoured him, leaving only ashes.

Fire swept into the cell and Kira ran around in terror. "How is this possible? You—it was you! What did you do!?"

He pointed fearfully at the person sitting in the torture chair. Flames spread across her body, yet she slowly rose from the seat. Looking down at the cowering Kira, she sneered, "Even with just one finger, I can send you all to hell!"

In the rolling flames, she was like Satan from hell, issuing a death sentence:

"If I'm going to die, I'm taking all of you with me!"

--

A water glass hit the table with a harsh sound.

"Ivy Cooper!"

"Have you no shame!? From the day you entered this school until now, you've been dead last in every exam. I understand you have problems—low intelligence—but at least you should have some moral standards!"

"Last week, classmates reported you for bullying your deskmate, and this week you openly cheated on the midterm! Do you have any respect for this school at all!?"

Four people stood in the large office. The pot-bellied one was Bob Monroe, principal of Imperial High School.

He was currently spitting as he scolded her in frustration. Next to him stood an elegantly dressed lady who smiled and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Mr. Monroe, I'm so sorry for the trouble. My daughter has intellectual problems and grew up in the countryside. She doesn't understand anything - she only knows brute force. You're the principal of a Imperial High School - don't stoop to arguing with a fool."

Elizabeth shot a vicious glare at her daughter standing behind her with her head down. Someone chimed in from the side.

"Mr. Monroe, please calm down. My sister is just jealous of my good grades and wanted to beat me on the exam, but she's stupid so she used this method."

Bob pointed at Ivy with a sigh. "You—!"

Blood Dove stood in the corner with her head down. The chattering voices gave her a headache. Just as she was about to curse at them, a sharp pain shot through her brain, followed by a flood of memories that weren't her own.

This is...

She looked up in surprise and caught sight of the reflective glass on the bookshelf. The glass clearly reflected an unfamiliar, sallow face—like someone who had been starving for a long time, malnourished.

The features on that face were delicate and beautiful, but the ugly scar on the right cheek ruined the beauty.

Blood Dove was stunned. So she had been reborn? Reborn in a high school student's body?

The headache hadn't faded. The scene of the cave explosion lingered in her mind. The bone-deep pain from the poison before death constantly reminded her that now that she had a second chance at life, she must get revenge!

Based on her understanding of Kira, there was no way he could have gathered so many mercenaries and built that prison in such a short time. Plus, those bone nails had a very unique shape. So she could conclude that her death was definitely connected to the mastermind behind it all.

Now that she had a second life, she would personally catch that person and get her revenge.

"Ivy, you stupid pig! The principal is talking to you! Why are you acting like you can’t speak?!"

Elizabeth raised her hand to slap her foolish daughter. Out of instinct as a top spy, Blood Dove quickly dodged. Elizabeth missed and stumbled to the side, her head hitting the bookshelf directly.

"Ah!"

The scream reminded Blood Dove of her current situation. Since she was using Ivy's body, she should live well for her. But from the available memories, it seemed the original Ivy hadn't had a good life.

Ivy Cooper was the eldest daughter of the Cooper family, one of New York's few noble families. When Ivy was born, she was switched by a hospital nurse and went to live in a rural village with her adoptive parents. She was only found and brought back six months ago.

The Coopers despised her for her terrifying appearance and low intelligence. They thought she couldn't compare to the fake daughter Charlotte at all and wasn't worthy of being the Cooper family's daughter.

But for the sake of their noble reputation, they had to keep her. They announced to the public that Ivy was an illegitimate daughter, while the fake daughter Charlotte was the real eldest daughter.

After returning to the family, Ivy was bullied and mistreated because of her identity and appearance, with Charlotte leading the charge.

But now this body housed Blood Dove, and she naturally wouldn't let herself be pushed around like this.

"Ivy, have you lost your mind!? In broad daylight you tried to hurt your mother!"

Charlotte deliberately shouted loudly. 

Bob exploded in anger. "Cheating wasn't enough! Now, you wouldn’t even spare your own mother… Ivy?"

"I didn't cheat."